Voice of the customer

In marketing and quality management, the voice of the customer (VoC) summarizes customers' expectations, preferences and dislikes. According to the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) the definition of voice of the customer is: "Actual customer descriptions in words for the functions and features customers desire for goods and services". Long term business success involves listening to, analysing and adapting to the VoC.

Companies reputations have been negatively impacted by sources of VoC data, as customers can share word of mouth views on companies and products online. A successful VoC programme involves creating business goals, employee participation, researching customers (understanding the customer journey, gathering feedback and conducting consumer and market research), analysing this data and then refining strategies and products, making business changes or activities such as improving customer service, based on actionable insights.

VoC studies can consist of both qualitative and quantitative research and can be conducted at the start of any new product, process, or service design initiative to better understand the customer's wants and needs, and to contribute to new product definition, quality function deployment (QFD), and the creation of detailed design specifications. Data collected can be organized into a hierarchical structure, and then prioritized in terms of importance and satisfaction with current alternatives.